Minotaur (Brazil)
Not to be confused with the robot which competed in Las Vegas 1999. Minotaur is a robot that was built by the Brazilian Team RioBotz which competed in Season 2 of ABC's BattleBots reboot and third season on Discovery and Science. It is armed with a deadly 12,000 RPM spinning drum that was reduced to just under 10,000 RPM for competing. For Season 3, Minotaur kept the drum spinning at 10,000 rpm due to safety reasons, but it had a few visual upgrades such as a loss of the LED lights in the eyes and behind the drum, as well as a bronze colored drum. Minotaur was based around Touro Maximus, a robot that previously won the STEM Tech Olympiad in 2014 and RoboGames in 2015, as well as finishing 3rd in the next RoboGames. Since Touro Maximus was also made by RioBotz, it and Minotaur shared a lot components and design elements, with most of the upgrades being used for the armor, the drum and the skids. Minotaur did very well in the 2016 competition, landing a knockout blow on Photon Storm in the round of 48, causing Blacksmith to catch fire in the round of 32, decapitating Warhead in the round of 16 and removing Bronco's wheels in the quarter-finals. However, it lost out to Bombshell in the semi-finals. It also received its second, stunning loss against the now former reigning champion Tombstone in the main event of BattleBots 2018. Robot History ABC Season 2 Minotaur's first fight was against British entry Photon Storm. The fight started off in Minotaur's favor, with Minotaur getting in a hit on Photon Storm, destroying its left wing. Afterwards, Photon Storm managed to get a grip inside the opening for one of Minotaur's wheels before releasing it. However, Minotaur then lined up a shot and got a good hit with its drum, causing one side of Photon Storm's welds to fail. This took out both of its drive motors and damaged the battery while also damaging the hydraulic line that powered the weapon. Photon Storm was left unable to move and spewing hydraulic fluid around the BattleBox, giving Minotaur the win by KO at 1:41. This win put Minotaur to the round of 32 with its No.7 seeding, where it faced the No.26 seed Blacksmith. Things started out poorly for Minotaur as Blacksmith not only withstood the attacks from Minotaur but it was able to push Minotaur around. However, Minotaur started to take notches out of Blacksmith's wedge - eventually completely ripping it off. Minotaur then tore off the top plate but Blacksmith kept coming. Minotaur flipped Blacksmith but Blacksmith self-righted. Eventually, Blacksmith's weapon motor caught fire and Blacksmith stopped moving. However, there wasn't enough time to count out Blacksmith so it went to a judges decision, where Minotaur won on a unanimous 3-0 decision to advance it to the round of 16, where it faced the No.23 seed Warhead. When the match started, both robots made contact with each other, but no damage was done. However, on the second collision, Warhead's spinning dome was ripped off by Minotaur's spinning drum and landed on the BattleBox floor. Minotaur continued attacking Warhead and ripped off Warhead's right side armor. Minotaur pushed Warhead under the pulverizer and Warhead was having driving issues. Minotaur backed away and went straight at the left side of Warhead, which ripped off the left side armor and flipped it onto its side. Warhead couldn't self-right and it was counted out. Minotaur won by KO at 1:11 and advanced to the quarterfinals, where it faced the No.2 seed Bronco. Minotaur came out at Bronco, whom faced forward and sparks went flying. Both robots circled for a bit, allowing Minotaur to get its weapon up to its maximum allowed speed. Minotaur made contact with one of the wheels and damaged it. Minotaur continued to attack while Bronco continued to circle to try and find an opening. Minotaur began attacking the wheels and flipper of Bronco, tearing off wheels and leaving Bronco's weapon useless. More attacks left Bronco with only one side of wheels remaining and driving in circles. Finally, Minotaur ripped off the remaining wheels and Bronco was counted out, allowing Minotaur to advance to the semi-finals where it faced No.19 seed Bombshell. The match started out fairly evenly for Minotaur as neither robot gained the upper hand. However, Minotaur eventually managed to tear off Bombshell's left side and send it into the overhead lights, bringing one of them down to the floor. Several seconds later, Minotaur started taking hits from Bombshell, including a big hit that flipped it over and dislodged a drive train. Minotaur used its drum's gyroscopic forces to help steer but Bombshell kept coming. However, Bombshell's weapon had lost one of its teeth and a wiring problem similar to its match with Red Devil had occurred, forcing Bombshell's driver to shut down the weapon, but Minotaur also stopped moving due to a minor cut in the bottom panel from one of Bombshell's attacks, causing the working wheel to no longer touch the ground. Minotaur was counted out and Bombshell advanced to the next round, eliminating Minotaur from the tournament. However, at the end of the series Minotaur won the Most Destructive Robot Award as it destroyed Photon Storm, Blacksmith, Warhead and Bronco. Discovery Season 3 Minotaur's first match of the tournament was against Tombstone. In this battle, Minotaur got its weapon up to speed but started taking repeated hits from its opponent. Minotaur continued to attack and after being flipped, righted itself using its drum's gyroscopic forces and resumed the battle. Damage to Minotaur was racking up as Minotaur could no longer get its drum up to top speed thanks to the initial impact with Tombstone, which sheared bolts holding the chassis together. Additionally, this prevented Minotaur from righting itself using the drum's gyroscopic forces. After the repeated impacts, Minotaur's drum eventually stopped working, leaving it with little other choice than to use its own body to attack. These attacks also affected Tombstone's frame, causing it to warp, leaving Tombstone's bar to pull up pieces of the floor due to the bar now spinning at an angle. Unfortunately, Minotaur eventually found itself high-centered on one of these damaged areas of the arena floor where it couldn't move. Minotaur got its drum spinning again and desperately to use its vibrations to free itself but to no avail. As a result, Tombstone was given the win by KO at 2:22. Minotaur's next opponent was Hypothermia. For this match, Minotaur opted for a slower drum speed in order to lessen the gyroscopic forces of the drum and added its new feeder wedge in hopes of preventing Hypothermia from getting any control of the fight. When the match began, the fight was surprisingly even as while Minotaur landed the first hit, it did little damage, only managing to bend the front wedge of Hypothermia up a bit. Minotaur continued to attack, each time flipping Hypothermia over but Hypothermia wasn't giving up and right itself each time it was flipped. Eventually, Minotaur tore off the bottom plate of Hypothermia and tore into one of the double wheels Hypothermia had opted to use for the fight. Smoke began pouring out of Hypothermia but the match went to a judges decision and in the end, Minotaur won on a 3-0 decision. Up next for Minotaur was a rematch with Blacksmith. In response, Minotaur's team opted to spin the drum up to only 60% in hopes of having the lower ground clearance when it came to head-on impacts. This proved to be effective as they were able to stay on the arena floor as the match got underway, Minotaur took shots from Blacksmith's hammer but they weren't doing much damage so Minotaur pressed on. Minotaur managed to get underneath Blacksmith and shove it against the arena barrier, causing sparks along the way. Blacksmith then got one of its front forks stuck in the slot for the killsaws so Minotaur dished out another hit. Unfortunately, the lower weapon speed and Blacksmith's armor were not allowing Minotaur to deliver the big hits it was known for but it pressed on anyway, taking Blacksmith to the screws. Blacksmith fought back with its hammer but still wasn't able to cause any major damage and started to seemingly catch fire briefly. Time ran out and the judges awarded a unanimous 3-0 decision to Minotaur. Minotaur was next against SubZero as part of a last-ditch effort to hopefully make the top 16. The match was off to a good start for Minotaur as SubZero had miss-timed their flip and allowed Minotaur to move in underneath. Minotaur continued to stay aggressive and took advantage of another miss-timed flip from its opponent. Since SubZero was still moving around, Minotaur caused more damage,bending up the front of SubZero's flipper and pushing in part of the side armor. Minotaur threw SubZero onto its back before helping it back up. Minotaur's drum then spun down briefly before it was back up to speed and resuming its rampage. Minotaur got underneath SubZero and pushed it almost to the arena barrier but SubZero got off. Minotaur threw SubZero over once more and SubZero was unable to self-right and was counted out, giving Minotaur the win by KO. Minotaur did enough to make the top 16, where it faced Witch Doctor. For this fight, Minotaur added a new drum with more teeth in hopes of getting in more hits on its opponent. When the match began, Minotaur was the aggressor, causing sparks on Witch Doctor but causing drive issues for Witch Doctor. When they collided again, Minotaur managed to take off the wheel that was giving Witch Doctor trouble, allowing it to continue. Minotaur continued its attacks and took off the other front wheel. Witch Doctor was still mobile so Minotaur took its rampage to the arena barrier where Witch Doctor lost one of its rear tires. Minotaur made one final attack and removed the last tire, then flipped Witch Doctor over. Witch Doctor self-righted and caught fire but had no way to move around the arena and was counted out, allowing Minotaur to advance to the quarterfinals where it faced Monsoon. Both robots came at each other and Minotaur seemed to struggle to do much to Monsoon despite having their weapon at full power. Still, Minotaur managed to get underneath Monsoon and shove it across the arena. Monsoon recovered and tried to deliver some hits but Minotaur was staying aggressive and managed to take off Monsoon's weapon belt. Finally, Minotaur got Monsoon up on its side where its drive wheels were off the ground and took it to the arena barrier where it couldn't move. Minotaur opted not to free Monsoon and Monsoon was counted out, allowing Minotaur to advance to the semifinals where it faced Lock-Jaw. Minotaur went into the fight largly unchanged from its fight with Monsoon and was intending to attack the wheels and go for the knockout. When the match began, things were pretty even as both robots hit but not much damage was caused. However, Minotaur was on the attack and started to get the better of the collisions, getting underneath Lock-Jaw and shoving them around a bit. Minotaur continued to attack, throwing Lock-Jaw into the air and causing minor damage to the wheels. Eventually, Minotaur hit hard enoiugh to flip Lock-Jaw over. Lock-Jaw still boldly pressed on but after two final hits, Minotaur had knocked Lock-Jaw out. Lock-Jaw was counted out and Minotaur advanced to the championship finals where it faced Bite Force. When the match began, Minotaur seemed to have the edge as both robots were thrown backwards but Bite Force had lost one of its front wedgelets. Minotaur continued its assault but started to be on the receiving end of its opponent's hits, losing its left side rail. Even so, Minotaur had enough power to continue the hits, throwing Bite Force into the air once again. Both robots were now without a working weapon so it became a pushing match with Minotaur seeming to have the slight edge. However, Bite Force's weapon came back to life and now Minotaur was taking more damage and was knocked out right near the screws. Minotaur was counted out, giving the win and the championship title to Bite Force. Wins/Losses *Wins: 10 *Losses: 3 Faruq Tauheed Introductions "It’s Brazilian, so you know someone is about to get waxed. It’s MINOTAUR!" "It's raining, it's pouring, it's time for some goring! Part man, part cattle and ready for battle. It's MINOTAUR!" "At the running of the bulls, the bulls run from him. Toro! Toro! Toro! These horns bring the gore-o. It's MINOTAUR!" "In this symphony of destruction, this monster plays the horns. 1st Chair in the Gorechestra Pit. It's MINOTAUR!" "From Brazil, the raging bull. When it's stampeding, you're going to start bleeding. It's MINOTAUR!" "*singing* Ole, ole ole ole ole. When this bot sees red, you're.....well.....dead. It's fast, it's mean, it'll bust your spleen. It's MINOTAUR!" "It's the bull from Brazil here to winotaur, wipe that face of that grinotaur, smash your chiny-chin chinotaur. The South American King Pinotaur, it's MINOTAUR!" "Like a bull in a China shop, here's a bot you can't stop. The plate breakin', earth shakin', no fakin' MINOTAUR!" "He's a bot cast in legend. They should call it Opra Sprinfry. *points to random places* You get a kill. You get a kill. You get a kill. Everybody gets a kill. It's MINOTAUR!" "If you mess with the bull, you get the horns and your robot will end up ragged and torn. So slap on the spurs. Hop on for a ride. Face this bot and you might die. It's MINOTAUR!" "This bot took no bull. Come at it hard, you'll look like a fool. The tips are sharp, its speed is fast. Get out of its way or you might not last. It's MINOTAUR!" Merchandise Any appearance by Minotaur in merchandise are listed below *Minotaur/PushStrike *Minotaur/RC *Minotaur/VEX Robotics *Minotaur/Tech4Kids Trivia *The sound of Minotaur's drum used in its battles for the ABC reboot is from outside when the drum was running as the sound of of the drum inside the arena isn't as good. Category:Brazilian Robots Category:Robots with more Wins than Losses Category:Robots armed with Spinning Drums Category:Heavyweight Robots Category:Robots that fought on television Category:Invertible Robots Category:Foreign Robots Category:Animal Based Robots Category:Crowd favorites Category:Heavyweight Quarterfinalists Category:Heavyweight Semifinalists Category:Robots that could self-right Category:Honorable Mentions in the Combat Robot Hall Of Fame Category:Robots made into toys Category:Robots that never lost by JD Category:Main Event Participants Category:Heavyweight Runner-Ups Category:Main Event Winners